LIVERMORE FALLS — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday set the tax rate at $21.10 for 2015-16, the same as the past fiscal year.
Town Manager Kristal Flagg told the board Tuesday that the town has about $1.1 million in overlay. The town needs about $300,000 per month to operate, and auditors like to see at least three months’ worth of operating expenses in overlay, she said.
“My thought is to leave our (tax) rate the same this year,” Board of Selectmen Chairman Louise Chabot said. “When we do the fire station, it’s going to go up somewhat.”
Earlier at Tuesday’s meeting, selectmen voted to construct a new fire station. The construction will not affect this year’s tax rate.
The town has $40,477 in its Tax Increment Financing account, which is to be used to stimulate economic development.
“The fact that we have one is a draw for economic development,” Flagg said.
“I would like to fund the TIF, but we just can’t do it this year,” Selectman Ron Chadwick said.
Flagg said she received a quote of $1,500 from Acadia Contractors to test for asbestos in an abandoned building at 22 Gagnon St. She said the money would come from a surplus of $25,000 in an account for the building. After the testing is done, the building would be put up for bids.
Selectmen agreed to move forward with the asbestos testing. They noted there was no stipulation on what was to be done with the building.
Chabot said that although it was expected that the building would be demolished, the town should stipulate what bidders were expected to do with such structures in the future.
Flagg said she received a letter from Andrew Cavanaugh of Pittston, who wants to bring his carnival to the Livermore Falls Recreation Field. Cavanaugh had said he wants to give 20 percent of the proceeds from the rides to the town.
“It’s nice to have new things come into town,” Chabot said.
Selectmen accepted, with regret, the resignations of Darryl Brown and Fran Szostek from the Planning Board. They appointed William Demaray, who had been a Planning Board alternate, to a three-year term, and Tim Fournier as an alternate.
The town has hired Michael Pinea of Old Town as a full-time police officer. Pinea had been working as a reserve officer with the department.
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